It took the duo a while to finally get the antidote administered without sticking Sanji more than necessary and breaking a few bones while they're at it. When Zoro was finally ordered to let Sanji go so that he could thrash around some more, the swordsman gave his friend a confused look before complying reluctantly. The small doctor watched the cook's thrashing get slower and slower until he was back to just lying there quietly and calmly.
"That was something, wasn't it?" Chopper looked up at Zoro with large brown eyes.
"Eh…" Zoro muttered to himself before making his way back into the corner he was resting in earlier.
Chopper gave him an unamused look before checking on the blonde one more time before heading off to bed. Zoro watched the young boy silently before falling into a much needed rest. 'Koshiro and Zeff are going to kill me when they find out what happened to Sanji… that is, if they don't kill him first.' Zoro though blearily as he drifted off to sleep. All three occupants of the small office slept peacefully for the rest of the night.
~!~
Sanji awoke to some of the first rays of sun oozing through the partially parted blinds. He raised his arm to shield his eyes from the dazzling rays as he waited for his eyes to focus again. The blonde's whole body hurt to move even the slightest. Pain shot across his side and up his spine when he moved his legs and hips. Still a bit hazy from the drugs, Sanji sat there confused for a while until the swordsman shifted in his sleep and woke up to see the blonde finally awake.
"Oh great, the moss moves." Sanji said sarcastically and winced slightly when he accidentally moved.
"Hmph…" Zoro snorted irritatedly before he noticed the cook wince again. "Stop moving around. You'll just make it worse."
"Shut up! I don't need advice from some moss! I know well enough not to move around when it hurts…"Sanji trailed off as he started to think for a bit. "Do you happen to know how I managed to get this fucked up?"
"No… why?" Zoro had by now stood and wandered part way to the cot's side. He raised a brow questioningly at the blonde's strange question.
"I can't exactly remember… it's kind of hazy." Sanji was being oddly honest right now and Zoro took a guess that the drugs weren't fully worn off yet.
"That might be the drugs Chopper pumped into your system…" Zoro shrugged.
"Whoa, wait… I'm drugged up right now?" Sanji stared almost blankly at the ceiling for a moment. "Who's Chopper and where the hell am I?"
"Yes, Chopper is a doctor and friend of mine, and you're at his small clinic." Zoro sighed with a slight roll of his eyes.
"How the hell did I get here…?" Sanji gave a perplexed look as he glanced around the room, seemingly looking for someone else.
"I carried your shitty ass here." Zoro grumbled.
"Wait… that can't be right. You, the directionally challenged shitty swordsman, brought me to a clinic in the middle of seemingly nowhere. How the hell did you get here without directions, or did you stop and ask for directions?" Sanji frowned.
"Hey! I'm not that directionally challenged!" Zoro snarled.
"Says the man who can't even find his way around a building that he's been in for over a year already. Hell, you even get lost on your way to the bathroom half the time at the house. I've seen you do it a couple of times. You excuse yourself then wander the house for a half an hour or so grumbling about moving toilets and Koshiro mocking you." Sanji sneered back playfully.
"I can't help it that Koshiro is constantly moving the rooms around!" Zoro protested with a very light blush at being caught.
"He's not… the bathroom is always in the same place." Sanji pointed out.
"He does move it! Otherwise I would have found it by now." Zoro griped.
"Do you even know where your own bedroom is?" Sanji raised an eyebrow curiously.
"Well… duh! I know where my bedroom, the kitchen, the dojo, and the living room are." Zoro grumbled.
"Did you know you had an inside gym, an outdoor pool, and an outdoor sports area?" Sanji smirked knowingly.
"When the hell did we get those?" Zoro stared at the blonde with wide eyes.
"Koshiro said that he had gotten them around two or so years ago and complained on how you had yet to find them." Sanji chuckled softly.
~!~
Chopper awoke to the soft voices of two people talking and almost jumped up to yell for Zoro that there were intruders. He stayed completely still and looked around to find Zoro standing beside the blonde's makeshift bed making conversation with seemingly nothing. The young doctor blinked in bewilderment for a few seconds until it dawned on him that someone was answering back. Zoro had looked stunned at something the other person said and Chopper finally noticed that the blonde was sitting up and talking.
"Oh my god! You shouldn't be sitting up yet! You could open up your wound again so lay back down before I make you lay back down!" Chopper squealed, effectively cutting off their small chatter and causing Sanji to lay back down as fast as possible.
Zoro started to laugh hard when he noticed the frightened look the cook was giving Chopper. The drugs were still running through his system so it wasn't unusual that he would be this open around both the swordsman and what he might consider a stranger that Zoro knew.
"S-sorry!" Sanji dragged the covers up until only his eyes up could be seen.
"Don't sit up again until I check to make sure that your wounds have closed to the point that you can sit up! I don't care what this idiot over here told you to do, he always ends up bleeding all over the place anyway, don't listen to a thing he says!" Chopper scolded before rushing around the room to get some of his equipment to start checking Sanji's injuries before he could let him go home.
Luckily it was a Saturday. That meant that both Zoro and Sanji didn't have to worry about getting to the school and putting up a front like he wasn't injured for the whole day only to probably get attacked again after school and have more injuries. Chopper redressed Sanji's wounds and gave him another dose of painkillers that sent him back into Lala Land. Zoro grumbled when Chopper asked him to make sure the blonde got home.
"I didn't have much of a choice to begin with you know." Zoro grumbled.
"Why?" Chopper asked innocently.
"This idiot has been staying with me the last few days." Zoro didn't feel like explaining everything another time, so he cut it short.
"Oh… then get him home!" Chopper sent a glare at the swordsman before Zoro even made an attempt to grab the cook's arm and drag him out the door.
Chopper yelled at him a few times for the rough treatment of his 'patient' and made Zoro treat him a bit gentler. Sanji swayed like his legs were going to give out at any moment. He walked beside the swordsman, almost plastered up against his side, giggling to himself like a little school girl. Zoro rolled his eyes in annoyance at the way the cook acted when drugged. The swordsman tried to tune out the annoying fits of giggles at his side and focus on meditating.
"Mhmm, Zoro… where are we going?" Sanji's voice was close to his ear and it startled him from his calming meditations.
"What do you mean?" Zoro glanced over his shoulder to see the cook blink back at him in confusion.
"Last I remember… our house isn't in the middle of downtown." Zoro raised an eyebrow at the cook's statement since he knew he would never wander into downtown without his swords. That area was bad news if he wasn't armed to the teeth and ready for anything. Downtown was the 'bad' part of town and a lot of gangs resided here and fights were constantly breaking out around the area. The swordsman looked in front of him to notice that they were in the middle of downtown.
"Yeah, let's get back to the upper area." Zoro turned back the way they had come and snagged Sanji's elbow in the process, effectively pulling him along. Sanji staggered along with him while glancing around nervously.
"Mhmm, Zoro…" The cook breathed quietly. "I don't feel good."
"Like what? An upset stomach or something?" Zoro didn't drop his voice to meet the cook's hushed tone. Sanji visibly tensed at the swordsman's loudness and glanced around nervously again.
"No…" Sanji picked up speed to be right at the swordsman's side. "It feels like we're being watched and hunted."
Zoro tensed at the statement. He had been feeling a rather uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach since he was pulled out of his meditations. By now he had guessed that someone was following them. In an effort to not alarm the drugged cook too much, he put on a calm and collected stance and tried to keep his pace at an average speed, no matter how much he really wanted to run out of the place.
"Zoro…" The cook pleaded quietly. "I wanna go home now." Sanji started glancing around quickly again, flicking his eyes to every small shadow nervously.
"Just give me about five or so minutes and stop walking so close to me!" Zoro growled under his breath.
Sanji reluctantly fell back a step but continued to keep his hand on Zoro's arm. He kept glancing around nervously, the drugs adding to some of the weird things he was currently catching out of the corner of his eyes. Zoro kept trudging along at a steady, unwavering pace to show that either he hadn't noticed the odd presence around him or that he just didn't care. The duo had finally made it to the street that would take them home in five or so minutes and Sanji's legs gave out from under him in relief.
"Oi, shit cook, it's not time to sit down yet." Zoro glanced behind them to see one or two people still stalking them from the shadows.
"I can't stand back up…" Sanji looked down at his shaking legs and shook his head before turning around to see the people moving around in the shadows.
"Why the hell not?" Zoro glared at the smaller man before him.
"I ran out of strength…" Sanji stared hard at the ground.
Zoro thought back to some of the symptoms that might be left from both the drugs and poison. He recalled the younger man talking about loss of strength, being overly honest even if it wasn't like them, puking, small nosebleeds, loss of appetite, and fuzzy memories. Chopper had said that if any of these symptoms occurred, then he was to deal with it accordingly. Meaning that he is now forced to carry the shit cook home since he can no longer stand, let alone walk.
"Fine… Chopper said I had to get you home. Koshiro and Zeff will also have my head if I don't get you home in one piece…" Zoro sighed in defeat before yanking the cook unsteadily to his feet and onto the broader man's back.
"Sorry…" Sanji trailed off and seemingly fell asleep as the swordsman trudged home with a passed out cook slumped against his back.
Zoro happened to take notice to the cook's small weight and thinness. It was unusual for someone to be have that long of legs and weigh only around eighty or so pounds, let alone be a male who only weighed that much. The swordsman pushed his way into the front door of the house as the sun had just risen over the horizon. Nobody seemed to be awake so Zoro took it to himself to get to his room as silently as possible.
He placed Sanji on the cook's bed and pulled his shoes off before sliding the covers over him. The cook groaned in pain a little as he shifted to a more comfortable position. Chopper's drugs should be wearing off soon and it will probably wake the reluctant swordsman up again. Zoro threw his socks and shoes towards the clothes basket, not caring if they missed or hit, and did the same with his clothes before pulling on a pair of dark grey sweat pants and crawling into his own bed.
~!~
Zoro awoke to the delicious smell of eggs, bacon, and toast cooking somewhere downstairs. He climbed out of his bed and glanced at the blonde's bed to see if he was still there or was the one making breakfast again. To Zoro's surprise, his bed looked like it had never been touched during the night except for the stack of clean clothes at the foot. The swordsman's own bed seemed to also have a stack of his own clothing at the foot and he glanced at the time.
"Holy shit! It's almost noon already!" Zoro cursed at himself for waking up so late and practically tore down the steps to get some training in.
Zoro hit the bottom of the steps only to be rewarded with the cook standing in the middle of the living room. Sanji was twisted in a practically inhuman way and was trying to bend over backwards at the same time. The swordsman reeled in horror at the sight before the horror turned to awe. It took the cook only a few seconds to almost touch the ground before he winced in pain and had to unravel himself to stand straight again.
"What the hell are you looking at shit head?" Yup, Sanji was back to being himself instead of the drugged up mess he was just last night.
"Something curly that can curl into the same shape." Zoro grumbled before walking to the table that already had a plate of food on it instead of running to the dojo.
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Sanji glared at the swordsman before taking his usual spot beside him.
"Where's Koshiro and Zeff?" Zoro glanced at the blonde to see him picking at his food.
"They said something about a fair and that we should come a bit later. Koshiro wrote a note and stuck it on the fridge this morning for me to see… probably because he knew that your moss head would never find it. Like the gym, pool, and sports area." Sanji smirked a bit at his own comment before going back to a blank look and picking at his food.
"He should have just left it on the dojo floor… I would have found it there." Zoro snorted.
"After how many fucking hours? We have to be at the shitty place by two." Sanji grimaced at the time that was left for getting ready.
"What do we have to wear? Koshiro has a habit of picking the shittiest of places." Zoro polished off his place and looked at what the cook had left, almost a full plate.
"About that…" Sanji trailed off and tried to find something interesting to stare at. "It says something about wearing whatever because we'll be changing into something else when we get there."
"What's so god damn bad about changing into something else?" Zoro shifted in his chair so that he could watch the cook's expressions a little better.
Sanji contorted his face into a look of disgust before letting it slide back to a passive expression. "…animal ears… yukata…"
"Animal ears and yukata? What the hell are we going into?" Zoro pushed out of his seat and headed to the fridge to see the note.
'Zoro, Sanji,
Please don't be mad at us but we went out to this new fair while you two were at school. After deciding that we both enjoyed ourselves to the fullest, we planned to come back as soon as possible. Since you two didn't come home until late last night, we took it upon ourselves to go out to the fair again. We would like it if you two showed up around two o'clock PM. If you are late, I will personally let Zeff kick your ass Zoro and I will kick your ass Sanji. Thanks for understanding this situation as well as you most likely are right now. Wear whatever because you will be changing into select animal ears and yukata! We both hope that you two make it here because this place is so entertaining. Despite the ears and yukata, you will love this place.
Your parent,
Koshiro and Zeff'
Zoro groaned in annoyance. Sanji had moseyed his way into the kitchen while Zoro was busy reading the note. He sat up on the counter with a swift grace that only the cook would be able to accomplish without injuring himself. The swordsman looked up towards Sanji with a look that clearly said, 'What the fuck!'
"That's the exact same thing I was thinking when I read the shitty thing." Sanji looked displeased at the whole ordeal.
"They can't be serious…" Zoro paled as Sanji showed him a picture on his phone that was sent to him a while ago.
"I'm afraid that they're dead serious." Sanji watched Zoro's expression as it changed to pure horror at what he saw.
Both men sighed at the same time as Sanji closed his phone and shoved it back into his pocket harshly. He found the floor interesting as the swordsman walked past him with the same decision. They were silent the whole time they got ready and drove, Sanji was the driver, to the fair. Upon arrival, they were slipped into separate dressing rooms and prepared for their time at the fair.
~!~
"What the hell is taking the shit cook so fucking long?" Zoro grumbled under his breath as he stood by the dressing room exit. It had been nearly twenty minutes since the swordsman had been dressed. Sanji finally sauntered out of the dressing room exit.
"What took you so fucking long-" Zoro's train of thought went down the drain as he saw exactly what the cook was wearing.
The yukata stood out against all of the others he had seen so far. It was a bright golden color, the same gold as the cook's hair, and had a black sash. Sanji stood there with a light blush on his face at how he looked. A pair of blonde fox ears had also been set atop his head.
"The stupid dresser wouldn't pick something normal. I told him just to give me black and the shit head found this instead." Sanji glared at the ground embarrassingly.
"At least I won't be able to lose you." Zoro pushed back all of the other comments he had been thinking about moments before and chose to go with a normal response.
"I'm the one who needs to be able to find you, damn shitty lost marimo." Sanji finally looked up to see what Zoro was wearing. His breath seemingly caught in his throat as he thought of just how nice Zoro looked. The swordsman wore a dark green yukata with a black sash, but his yukata hung open to show the long scar that ran from shoulder to hip. A pair of green tiger ears were placed atop his head, suiting him perfectly.
Sanji stared at Zoro's scar in amazement, awe, horror, and surprise. Zoro raised an eyebrow at the cook's sudden loss of words and realized that the cook didn't know about that. The swordsman sighed and started walking in a random direction which shook Sanji from his shock and caused him to retaliate.
"Stupid marimo! They are going to be near the stage. Where the hell do you think you're fucking going?" Sanji grabbed Zoro's shoulder and pointed him in the direction of the stage, pointing to it at the same time. "That's where we are supposed to be heading shit head."
"I knew that! I was just taking a detour." Zoro grumbled before following the length of Sanji's finger and towards the stage.
"What kind of a detour is that? One that gets your shitty mug lost for over an hour straight?" Sanji sighed in frustration before trailing along. Pointing Zoro in the right direction a few times.
~!~
Zeff and Koshiro were standing at the very base of the stage. Sanji waved to his foster father once he sighted him. Zoro kept his stoic posture and didn't even say hello when they got up to the two of them.
"I could see you coming from a mile away, Sanji. I was wondering what they might put my little eggplant in." Zeff cooed.
"I told you to stop calling me that!" Sanji screeched angrily.
"What's wrong eggplant? Cat got your tongue?" Zeff purposefully glanced at Zoro and the cook raged even more.
"Fuck off Zeff! I came here alright? Now I'm going to go spend my life my way!" Sanji stormed off angrily.
"Zoro, go with him. He tends to forget about rules when he gets this angry." Zeff smirked as he and Koshiro started walking off.
Zoro rolled his eyes at the thought of having to play babysitter for the day and hurried after the retreating form of the blonde cook. It was surprisingly easy to keep sight of and catch up to Sanji considering the one-of-a-kind yukata that he wore. Nobody else had a yukata that stood out quite as much as the cook's.
Sanji stormed into a small area of tents. He headed straight for the one that had a big sign saying, "Good, Strong Alcohol Here!" Zoro perked at the thought of downing a few cups of sake. Not waiting even a moment, the swordsman hurried up to Sanji.
"How many?" The 'waiter' asked.
"Wah-" Sanji was cut off with a quick "Two!" from Zoro who had come up behind him.
"Alright… this way." The waiter looked at Zoro and Sanji questioningly at the green haired man's sudden arrival and the blonde's easygoing attitude towards it.
They were taken to a picnic table just behind the tent. There were more picnic tables filled with people drinking the night away. The first drinks were on the house, then the rest had to be paid for. Sanji sat towards the middle of the bench and Zoro sat across from him. After ordering their drinks, the duo sat in silence for a while.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Sanji broke the seemingly indefinite silence.
"Zeff asked me to follow you… something about not paying attention to the rules." Zoro blew off the question. "What's with eggplant?"
Sanji's face turned bright red at the use of his nickname that he was used to only Zeff using. He began to sputter and didn't want to answer the question. "N-n-nothing… it's j-j-just a-a n-n-name…" Sanji stared at the grass, something he did when he was nervous.
"There's something else about it, isn't there, shit cook?" Zoro leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his hands.
"N-nothing your sh-shittiness n-needs to kn-know…" Sanji's face got even redder every second.
"Tell me… all about… it." Zoro drew out teasingly.
"Not unless you tell me about that!" Sanji glared, pointing at the swordsman's long scar.
"Fine, I got it while challenging a gang leader downtown. I refused to get a scar on my back, so I stood in front of him with my arms out and took the blow. This is the result… now you need to tell." Zoro quirked an eyebrow at the sudden stiffness.
"I…" Sanji cut off abruptly when the waiter came back with their drinks and didn't continue until he left. "Zeff really isn't my real father. My parents were killed by some thugs that had tried to mug them and ended up killing them when my father fought back. Zeff adopted me after he heard the news of my family. They had apparently been good friends before the incident. He started to use that nickname to get me over the trauma of losing my parents. Though it annoys me now more than ever." Sanji took a large swig of his wine to help him relax.
"So, you're over it now… eggplant." Zoro couldn't help himself from using the nickname at least a few more times.
"Stop calling me that fucking damn shitty asshole marimo! I just told you something that is fucking hard for me to fucking say and you go and fuck it all up by shitting all over what little damn pride I have left and fuck up what's left of my sanity too!" Sanji hollered angrily before adding, "Yes, I'm over it." Calmly.
"Doesn't seem like it." Zoro downed half of his mug of beer in one gulp.
"Keep your own damn comments to yourself!" Sanji took another large swig from his glass.
"Whatever… eggplant." Zoro chuckled into his glass as the cook raged again.
~!~
The two of them had drank a few glasses over the first free drink. Sanji was so drunk that he was having a hard time staying on the bench and off the table. Zoro hadn't changed and seemed as sober as ever. He watched with amusement as Sanji sprawled his chest and arms out on the table and hummed to himself, too drunk to care who saw or heard him. Luckily Zoro could just take them home since the yukatas were free and their clothes were in the car.
"Hey, shit cook. I'm taking you home." Zoro polished off the rest of his beer and the small sip of wine that Sanji had left in his cup before walking over to stand beside the drunk cook.
"I dun wanna go home yet. There'sh shtill plenty of time to play!" Sanji whined with a slur.
"Come on drunken shit cook, time to get you outta here before Zeff or Koshiro finds what I let you do to yourself." Zoro grabbed under Sanji's arms and lifted him to his feet easily.
"I'm not drunk! I'm jusht happy!" Sanji wobbled unsteadily on his legs as the world seemed to spin.
"Yes you are. Now let's go." The swordsman grabbed the cook's wrist and carefully led him out of the area after paying. He wandered around with the drunken cook while dodging Koshiro and Zeff while trying hopelessly to find the exit and their car.
"Zoro ~ my feet hurt~!" Sanji hummed into the swordsman's back as he slumped against him.
"Do I have to do everything for you?" Zoro grumbled and scooped the cook up onto his back.
"Yesh, pweashe~!" Sanji slurred sleepily.
Zoro sighed and wandered for a few more minutes until he finally found the exit. Sanji had wrapped his arms around the swordsman's neck in a tight hug. Getting to the passenger's side of the car, Zoro peeled Sanji off of him and managed to somehow get him into the seat and buckled in without getting snatched at. The swordsman wandered around to the driver's side of the car and hopped in to find Sanji already asleep. He pulled out a hidden GPS, that he always carried when he went somewhere in his car, and set the location for home.
~!~
They arrived home in only five minutes and Zoro hopped out and pulled Sanji from the passenger's seat as quickly as possible. There was a chance that Koshiro and Zeff would come home at any moment and he wasn't going to risk getting his ass kicked. Sanji stirred in his arms and wrapped an arm around Zoro's own in a tight grip. Zoro rushed up to the bedroom and peeled the chef off of his arm again, only to turn around and be pulled into a death hug from behind.
"What the hell is your issue shit cook?" Zoro snarled annoyingly.
"Can you shleep wit me, pweashe?" Sanji slurred against his back.
"No! Go to sleep drunkard!" Zoro growled angrily.
"Alwight, I jusht go to shleep here!" Sanji nuzzled his face between Zoro's shoulder blades and the swordsman gave up then in there.
"Fine! You can sleep with me, but there's no way I'm sleeping in your bed or the floor! One rule, don't fucking touch me anywhere strange or I'm kicking your ass onto the floor!" Zoro screeched defiantly.
"Alwight! I get to shleep wit Zoro!" Sanji tightened his grip around the swordsman and nuzzled himself further into his back once they had gotten into the bed and under the covers.
"Night, night Zoro~!" Sanji yawned.
"Night, Sanji…" Zoro sighed before reluctantly slipping into a light sleep.
~!~
Zoro awoke to someone shifting around in front of him. They had somehow managed to switch places while sleeping, though Sanji was still snuggled to the swordsman. Sanji groaned in his sleep and tried to shift into a comfortable position, effectively waking Zoro and pissing him off at the same time.
"Can't you just stay still?" Zoro grumbled.
"I dun wanna…" Sanji whimpered in his sleep.
Sanji shifted again and started squeezing himself up against Zoro like his life depended on it. Zoro sighed and looked around the room for the alarm clock. It was Sunday, and only nine in the morning. Good time considering how much their sleeping patterns had been messed up. The cook opened a clouded eye to look at what he was holding. When the sleep finally left his system, he shoved Zoro off the bed, hard.
"What the hell was that for shit cook?" Zoro growled as he hit the floor.
"Why the fuck are you in my fucking bed?" Sanji pulled the covers higher and pointed an accusing finger at the swordsman.
"Excuse me, but you're in my bed right now…" Zoro stood up as Sanji glanced around the room horrified.
"How the fuck did I get here? What the hell did you do to me? Where the fuck are Zeff and Koshiro?" Sanji cursed as he backed up against the wall.
"You got drunk last night so I had to bring you home before they saw you. On the way here, you hung onto me like a lost kid and then wouldn't let go when we got here. Then you asked me if you could sleep with me and I said no. After that you clung onto me and wouldn't let me go to sleep unless you were sleeping with me. Sound familiar?" Zoro explained with his arms crossed over his chest.
"You must have fucking slipped some shit into my damn drinks because I only fucking remember drinking two damn glasses and I would never ask to sleep with a shitty marimo!" Sanji barked back defensively.
"For the record, you drank about four or five glasses of wine last night." Zoro stared at the blonde in his bed with a pissed off expression. Sanji still hadn't left the confines of his covers yet. Yes the swordsman had let the blonde sleep with him, but it was purely on a whim.
"There's no way I would drink that much when with you!" Sanji snarled.
Zoro leaned down onto the bed and put his face inches from Sanji's. "What? Got something you don't like?"
"Fuck off damn marimo! Get the fuck away from my face!" Sanji slid back as far as he could go and lifted his foot off the bed to clip Zoro in the jaw with his toes.
"Ow… don't do that when I'm not ready for it." Zoro growled before grabbing his foot and sliding the cook off his bed and onto the floor.
"Get away! Fucking molesting perverted shitty marimo!" Sanji dashed down the stairs as quickly as possible and Zoro smirked at his harassment.